You may have seen people cutting up weed with a pair of scissors inside a shot glass.

While this is convenient, as most people will have scissors and shotglasses on hand, it doesn’t do the right job. It’ll be impossible to cut it up small enough; it’ll take forever.

It’s so easy to just toss your bud – especially large quantities for edibles, as an example – into a coffee grinder.

You can pulse the motor and stir the bud every so often, to ensure an even chop.

The motorized blades will have the right amount of power and sharp edge – they are designed to destroy hard beans, remember – to pulverize the bud evenly and small enough that you can cook or smoke it without wasting any. You’ll get a nice, clean burn.

Remember, many coffee grinders are known as “coffee and herb grinders” because the blade versions of the grinders are used to break up various herbs and spices, including some toughies in the herb family. So it all makes sense!

Besides requiring minimal effort and grinding your weed perfectly in less than 30 seconds, there is the added benefit of not really having to clean it out after.

Benefits of Electric Grinders

Hand grinders require a lot of gripping and twisting. Kief eventually builds up in the threads, too, making the pieces stick more, requiring more effort to open and close it. Plus the sound can be grating on the ears.

Like we mentioned before, these manual grinders are no good for arthritic hands. There are no real benefits of manual grinding over automatic/electric grinding. You may as well let the grinder do the work.

By the way, a designated weed grinder is practically the same price as an electric coffee grinder.

For instance, the grinder below is the BANANA BROS Electric Smart Herb and Spice Grinder. It is designed for herbs, not coffee, but electric coffee grinders are made basically the same way.

Also, there is really nothing around the house that does what a grinder can do. Blenders come close, but most of them are too big. The Bullet Pro does a good job, but its not exactly cheap.

The reason coffee grinders are better is just due to a few things. There is a difference between blade and burr grinders, even with weed, as it turns out. So watch out for the difference there.

Some first time mistakes will be made, like not having a dedicated coffee grinder for kief, or accidentally making coffee with your weed grinder.

The worst case scenario is drinking a weird coffee / weed melange, although some people have tried it and liked it.

There’s no shame in it – some of us share a grinder with coffee beans and weed. It’s not ideal, but it works.

That said, we totally recommend using a grinder just for your weed.

Use A Dedicated Kief Grinder

In short, if you’re going to use a coffee grinder for kief then make it a designated and dedicated one.

And if you’re going to convert an already used coffee grinder into a mini weed factory, then have the sense to clean it out beforehand—just trust us on this.

One easy way to clean the grinder between uses is with a paintbrush. Treat yourself to a real quality brush though, with synthetic bristles, not one from the dollar store. You’ll want the softness of synthetic bristles to give a thorough cleaning.

These are also less likely to fall out, as compared to natural bristle (made from animal hair) There were a few that I ran across that did the trick, with some honorable mentions.

The biggest surprise is how fine the kief is ground using a grinder like the Cuisinart DBM-8 Supreme Grind Automatic Burr Mill. This is one crazy strong grinder.

The Cuisinart in the wrong hands can be overkill, and a newbie could end up badly grinding away their entire stash and also destroying the machine, because it is a burr grinder, not a blade grinder.

It’s a strong grinder that will absolutely pulverize your herb, so you have to be careful with the pulsing and grinding. You don’t want to grind your stash down to dust.

The trick with grinding is getting just the right consistency for pieces of weed that are small enough to pack a bowl and burn evenly, or to cook in some oil/butter.

Mr Coffee Blade Grinder – Grinding Weed For Cheap!

A smaller, portable, super affordable, and easy to clean coffee grinder like the Mr. Coffee coffee grinder is definitely one of my favorites for grinding pot.

As small as it is, the motor really kicks and the easy-to-use and safely secured lid makes this an ideal kief making machine.

Let’s also not forget about its large grinding capacity (especially when talking about weed), which easily equals less time for you in the long run.

When it comes to the perfect size for grinding weed, as well as the power and of course the price, special mentions go out to the Magic Bullet and the Ninja.

As a longtime owner of the Ninja, I can attest that it can do everything a coffee grinder can do and more.

Only downside to these models is that because of the design of the units, with the razor sharp multi-blade setup, you’re going to need to be extra careful or risk a trip to the emergency ward when trying to get that last bit of buildup.

In both cases, the blades are manually screwed on the top and go bottom down into the unit.

When unscrewing, the buildup will be easy enough to get at since it is a separate part of the unit. The overall usage with these models still takes patience and practice.

Blade Grinder vs. Burr Grinders for Weed

When it comes to grinding herb, the choice is pretty much up to the user, but one thing to look out for with burr grinders is you have to watch out for their grind settings, since burr grinders are often adjustable.

In case you missed what burrs actually are, it’s these little rotating teeth that are used to chew up coffee beans, which can be done manually, or at higher speeds electrically.

In fact, unless you’re feeling very experimental, you might want to just go with a blade grinder, due to the fact, that it’s not as risky.

If you’re looking for a finer grind, some burr grinders might do it, but it depends on so many factors, you might just end up ruining the machine.

One thing you certainly don’t want to do is use your mom’s super expensive burr coffee grinder which cost her $500 to try grinding weed, and then bunging up her machine.

For instance, if you see one of these Rocky grinders in your kitchen, maybe don’t use that one.

If you do use an expensive burr grinder, things can go south quick, both with mom and dad and the grinder itself.

This is because then the weed will be kinda stuck in the machine, and she’ll give you a double whammy of a spanking for that – you broke her machine, and you’re a pothead. Bad baby!

Bottom line with burr grinders – they aren’t usually cheap, if they’re electric, so proceed with caution.

With blade grinders, they are definitely cheap and fast when it comes to grinding for weed, but they are known not to last as long or be as consistent.

Big chunks are known to stick to the sides or even on the blades of some blade grinder units.

The best nomination for a coffee grinder that can make good kief is the KRUPS F203 but be prepared for some trial and error regardless.

Urban Myths

Fear not: you won’t lose all of the good stuff to the blades – if you choose the right coffee grinder and removal method. This is a big myth. If you follow our instructions that we just gave – particularly the bit about cleaning with a paintbrush, you’ll be fine.

Most smokers will keep their kief in a separate container and collect it over a period of time. Then they may use it to top bowls or make into other products.

Here’s a good myth we want to bust right now. Have you heard this one? There have been reported deaths by using weed in a coffee grinder.

Oh really, how?

Apparently, because the molecules leftover from the coffee beans mutate the weed, creating a nose irritant that will make your eyes bleed out if it comes in contact.

If you have any common sense you will recognize immediately that this much be an urban myth. Why are you reading this article? If you smoke pot you probably also love coffee. (They go so well together).

If you have a coffee grinder that you’re wanting to use for weed, then the two substances have been in your system at the same time before, and it didn’t kill you. The scent of coffee beans will not kill you, and neither will the scent of weed.

You’re at more risk using butane lighters and inhaling that than you are in danger of inhaling the scents of coffee and weed at the same time.

Once again coffee grinders are more than an acceptable use for weed if the correct model and method is used. You won’t die, don’t worry, you’ll just be very, very high. 😉

How It’s Done

1. Pick out your model, and if used previously for coffee, caps, fraps, juicing or whatever-clean it thoroughly. You want a dedicated weed factory.

2. Add in your nugs, removing stems included with them if you don’t have any other use for it. Keep in mind smaller nugs= smaller or no stems. Less work overall.

3. Make sure everything is in place and do your thing. The desired consistency is up to you, but the most important thing is to tap on the top and shake it a bit before opening!

If not you could get a weed mist all up in your area, wasting valuable effort, time and money.

Just for added measure tap it on a solid surface a few times before opening, just to be safe.

And never, ever open up the grinder in the middle of grinding. The pieces will obviously go flying and you will have wasted all of your weed. Keep it contained, wait until the blades have completely stopped.

4. Use a non-coarse method of getting out the kief, like a small toothbrush that isn’t worn. This gets the most out without wasting valuable kief, and leaves a good layer still for repeated use.

A spoon can also be used as a secondary if no soft brush is available, but avoid using worn brushes as the resulting mixture will get caught up in the bristles.

The Staggering Conclusion

So there you have it. How it’s done plus some great coffee grinders that you have adopted as weed grinders for getting primo kief.

If you think we’re on point, leave a comment and tell us. We love compliments. If something we said seemed wrong to you, also tell us.

4 Comments

This is pretty good for weed.we dont carry or buy grinder always. but coffee grinder is amazing idea for grind herb. already i broke many weed grinder. so this way give me a perfect solution. you can use it for cook or smoke. i am very glad to read this post and it is very helpful for me. wish you all the best.

I purchased the Cuisinart based on the recommendation on this site and it doesn’t seem to be grinding my dry buds. I load them into the bin and when the machine operates very little makes it to the container. The bud seems to accumulate in the cylindrical shaft between the bin and the grinder mechanism. What am I doing wrong, because this is just not working for me.